Dismissal protection law: Fried squid under German and Chinese law

Abstract

When the Chinese Labor Contract Law came into effect 15 years ago, the law on termination of employment also underwent a number of changes. This article focuses in particular on the employer’s grounds for termination. A comparison with the German legal system is made in order to identify similarities and differences. It will become clear that, despite structurally different regulatory techniques and contrasting political frameworks, a thoroughly comparable level of protection prevails. While German law heavily depends on general clauses concretized by case law, Chinese law predominantly provides rules that codify reasons for termination in individual cases. The Chinese legislator thus prefers the legal certainty associated with clear regulations for specific types of cases to the flexibility made possible by general clauses. Furthermore, this article also deals with provisions on economic compensation payments and the social unlawfulness of termination which are inherent in both legal systems.